4. Statement by the Minister for Climate Change: Affordability, Second Homes and the Welsh Language

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:27 pm on 6 July 2021.

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Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 4:27, 6 July 2021

Thank you very much, Carolyn, and, yes, of course, we'll explore doing a pilot in your region—I'm very happy to do so. But you've just encapsulated the problem, haven't you? Because, for most ordinary people, the only big investment they make in their lives is the house that they live in, and therefore, when they sell it, they want to maximise the return that they get from it, and that's entirely understandable. And that's one of the reasons we want to pilot these measures, because we want to be sure that all of the people in the community are happy with the effect of some of the measures that we're going to have. There's no doubt that some of the measures mentioned today will have the effect of depressing house prices in some areas, so we need to make sure that the community is happy for that, because it delivers to them the sustainable and inclusive community that they want to be part of. I'm not saying that we'll have 100 per cent people happy with that, but we need to be sure that people understand the impact of what's being suggested. We have a large number of schemes across the world, across the UK, which were very well-intentioned in putting in place, which had dramatic unintended consequences on volatile property markets, so we do need to be sure that we're doing the right thing by the right people. And I will just finish by saying I'm absolutely pleased to work with you on bringing a pilot forward in your region, but one of the things you absolutely rightly identified is that the real way out of this crisis is to build the right number of houses that we need in the right places across Wales to ensure that everyone in Wales has a safe, affordable home they can call their own.